Podocarpus fasciculus
簇花罗汉松 cù huā luó hàn sōng, 叢花百日青 cóng huā bǎi rì qīng [Chinese]. The name literally translates as "tufted podocarp", likely in reference to the leaves borne near the ends of twigs.
Syn.: Podocarpus macrophyllus (Thunb.) Sweet var. liukiuensis Warb. 1900; Podocarpus macrophyllus (Thunb.) Sweet f. grandifolia Pilg. 1903 (Farjon 1998).
Trees to 15 m tall. Leaves linear-elliptic or linear-lanceolate, 5-16 cm × 6-12 mm, gradually narrowing at both ends, slightly falcate, short-petiolate, acute to acuminate. Pollen cones in groups of 3-6, 20-30 × 2-2.5 mm, peduncles scaled, 2-10 mm long. Seed cones on 10-18 mm peduncles; receptacle 9-18 mm long. Seeds about 10 mm long (Huang 1994).
Japan: Ryukyu Islands; Taiwan in the north-central region, and in the far south in Tawushan Nature Reserve (Farjon and Carter 2013).
Although it is fairly widely distributed, with at least 8 locations and a total extent of occurrence that likely exceeds 20,000 km2, the IUCN assesses P. fasciculus as "Vulnerable" because there has likely been a past decline of at least 30%. This has happened due to selective logging in Taiwan, and in the Ryukyu Islands and Japan, clearcutting, selective logging and conversion of forests for agriculture or plantation forestry. However, its status in Japan is uncertain due to an absence of surveys (Farjon and Carter 2013).
No data as of 2023.01.07.
P. fasciculus has been exploited for timber in Taiwan, but since most trees do not attain large size, its commercial importance is limited. The wood is used for light construction, carpentry, and sometimes furniture making. It might be planted in city parks as an ornamental, as it can enter horticulture under the name P. macrophyllus which it superficially resembles (Farjon and Carter 2013). As of early 2023, however, no specimens were recorded in arboreta or botanical gardens.
See the collection records on iNaturalist.
The epithet fasciculus, Latin for "cluster", refers to the clustered pollen cones.
Farjon, Aljos and G. Carter. 2013. Podocarpus fasciculus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T34067A2842494. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T34067A2842494.en, accessed 2023.01.07.
Huang, Tseng-Chieng, ed. 1994. Flora of Taiwan vol. 1: Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae. Taipei: Dep. of Botany, National Taiwan Univ.
The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.
Huang 1994 (the Flora of Taiwan).
Last Modified 2023-02-26
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